


Splintering Paths

by Ruunkur



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25786399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruunkur/pseuds/Ruunkur
Summary: It comes to a moment where there's a choice.Will you follow the script or forge a new path?
Kudos: 5





	Splintering Paths

**Author's Note:**

> Little piece I did to get me in a writing mood today. I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

There’s a moment where the world holds its breath, staring into the void.

There’s a moment where there’s a choice, suspended in the air.

There’s a moment that a life will spilt, hinged on a single decision.

There had been many of these types of moments, some small, a simple matter of accepting the invitation to play a game or to decline. Each moment holds its breath, waiting to see where the coin would fall.

But, of course time would still play out the other moment. It would splinter, fracture into another timeline, another choice.

Each of these moments were laid bare before the man, his eyes distant, but calculating. Each moment held a breath and the man could see each shift.

Here, staring at the three choices before him, a fourth option lingered in his mind and he stepped back, glancing over at the students.

He had known them, had known each choice that lay on each path before him. He had looked over this moment hundreds of times, searching for the moment that would fracture and bring it back to war.

“No.”

The woman before him frowned, narrowing her eyes. “No?” she asked.

The man holds up a single finger, pointing at the young woman in red. “You will cause a war.” He shifts his gaze towards the young man in blue. “You will lose what’s left of your mind.” He glances at the third choice. “You will lose a country but gain another.”

The students looked at him, confused as they glanced at each other. The man steps forward, looking up at the woman before him.

“And you have lied and lived for countless years.”

The woman blinked, opening her mouth before she shook herself. “Pardon me?”

This was different from the other choices. He could see the confusion, the glances between the students.

“I beg your pardon, but I have no idea-” the woman in red speaks.

“Those Who Slither in the Dark, the Agarthans, they are the ones that caused your siblings to die. For the tragedy of Duscur to happen. For a duke’s son to be so quietly killed. Tragedies, placed one on top of the other. Set to tear a land apart.”

“What is the meaning-” the woman, the archbishop, starts but the man raises a hand, shaking his head.

“There is no meaning behind a pointless choice.” He steps forward, pushing his way among the students. They hadn’t been here the first time that he had made the choice, had played with the idea.

_You fool, what are you doing?_

What he didn’t understand, at the moment of this choice, was why she always returned. He was stuck, repeating the same moments, over and over. His life, no matter how far he pushed it, always returned to his point.

“We all bleed red, save for the Nabateans, who bleed green. Tell me, Seiros, what is the point of a choice?”

“You-”

The woman tosses her head, eyes gleaming as she stared the man down.

“How dare you speak to Lady Rhea this way!” The man next to her snaps, his face almost forming a snarl and the man shifts, glancing back at him.

“And how dare you parade as human, hiding from yourself, driving history towards a point where it cannot be untangled. Each nation has its own ideas, each nation has its own strife and desires. A land cannot be reunited through bloodshed, for you lose the diversity of the land itself.”

His gaze cuts towards the woman in red and he sighs.

“I am too old to be doing this.”

“What-” Rhea begins and then it unwinds, a simple twist and he stands there again, studying his choices, studying his students.

“I won’t choose.”

“But-”

Another rewind, another moment.

“I choose all three.”

“You cannot-”

A third rewind and Byleth smirks, his emotionless face pulling into a mirthless snarl. “I choose the Ashen Wolves.”

“Who?”

That choice rocks the students before him and he sighs. “Life is full of choices. Speak with your step-brother, understand that the tragedies were not played out by those above ground, but those below it. In less than a year, I will bring you the head of the damned. And I will start with your uncle, Edelgard.”

Byleth turns, ignoring the furious screams of Sothis. He pauses, just a moment before he raises his hand and whistles.

It would save time, he figured, as he felt a surge of power from below. Something shattered and Rhea screamed, Byleth shifting his stance and catching the hilt of the Sword of the Creator.

“My father can teach in my stead. I will leave from the Abyss tonight. One year, before you enact a war, before you lose control, before you become caught.”

He turned, walking out of the room. He heard footsteps but he didn’t wait. Years and years of replaying the same scenario made the knowledge of the monastery second nature. He picked the way to the Abyss, ignoring the looks as he adjusted his grip on the sword.

 _What do you think you’re doing?_ Sothis demanded, appearing before him and Byleth smiled.

“I’m rewriting the script.”

_I see._

“Do you?”

Sothis paused, even as Byleth continued walking. He summoned a ball of flame upon reaching the dark entrance of the Abyss.

_No. So you must explain yourself!_

“And I did.” Byleth ignored the looks, stepping further into the Abyss. He could still hear the echoes of a war, still see the Dimitri that would become a beast, the Edelgard that would become a monster. Claude, slain for a country he only wanted peace with.

_For your sake, I hope you can pull this off._

“We know where the Agarthans lie. We can take the fight to them.” Without a thought, Byleth placed the sword on his hip, listening to it hum in response.

It wouldn’t be long before he was standing in front of the Ashen Wolves classroom, the proposal at the tip of his fingers.

And he wasn’t disappointed when the four agreed to join him, to become his class and help him with his work.

It wouldn’t be long before he could rest.


End file.
